June 4, 2025
Day 3 - Menerbes to Menerbes via Lacoste, Bonnieux, Roussillon, and Gordes
Bagging 4 Beaux Villages in one day
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The plan for today was to ride a loop from Menerbes unloaded and bag 4 beaux villages in one day. But as of late last night, the weather looked like it wasn’t going to cooperate.
We don’t need perfect weather to ride, but we draw the line at lightning storms and hail. So we went to bed last night half expecting to spend the day in our room reading and quietly going crazy with boredom. We decided to be optimistic and see what the morning brought our way.
Our optimism proved to be a good plan. By morning, the hail and lightning was gone from the forecast, replaced with somewhat light rain all day. But as we ate the lovely breakfast provided at La Maison Joly and looked at the forecast on Windy, the other forecasts started to look better and better. So we hustled out the door shortly after 1030h, telling ourselves that if the weather took a turn for the worse, we’d just come back to the B&B.
In the end, we got the whole ride in! And it was a great day! Windy but only a few drops of rain all day. Some sun breaks, which actually made us a bit too hot. But the riding really was the deciding factor. We had fantastic roads through the bright green spring Provençal landscape and beautiful old villages to explore. We came home tired but very happy.
We dropped down from Menerbes to start the ride and then immediately began a 5km climb to Lacoste (beau village #2). The breeze was fresh and cool, which kept us from overheating. We had 5 of these climbs in our plan, so we took it very easy and spent our time enjoying the scenery as we spun up the hills.
We popped out in Lacoste at the top of the village, which is draped down the side of an escarpment. Walking the bike, we marveled at the beautiful old stone buildings. Lacoste is really almost a museum. Everything looks perfect - perfectly old.
We rejoined our route at the bottom of the village, descending again before beginning an easier, shorter climb into Bonnieux (beau village #3). Bonnieux is a bigger town but not as striking as Lacoste. Or else we didn’t find the really nice part of it. With the bike in tow, we don’t generally climb or descend stairs. Nonetheless, we enjoyed walking the old streets and stopped at a cafe to celebrate our success in getting out on this ride.
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1 week ago
From Bonnieux, we enjoyed a fast descent back to the center of the valley, where the Pont Julien was waiting for us to visit. We’re both fans of Roman and Greek vestiges, and this bridge, built by the Romans and still usable, was super cool to see. And ride over!
From the Pont Julien, we began climb 3 up to Rousillon (beau village #4). Again not a super-difficult climb, but we were aware of our need to conserve energy so we took it very easy.
Arriving in Roussillon, we grabbed a sandwich for lunch and ate it while sitting on the viewpoint for the old ochre mine. Then we locked up the bike and took the short walk through the old mine to experience the site a bit more. It was spectacular! Beautiful yellow and red earth in formations, with vibrant greenery growing everywhere. Definitely worth the effort to walk down and back up!
We walked Schnooks through the old town of Rousillon, pushing the bike and enjoying the red-colored architecture. Then we were off down the hill into the valley once more. A longer push across the valley led to our 4th climb of the day - the long, hotter, and steeper climb into Gordes (beau village #5). By the time we got into the village, we were ready for another break.
We wanted to like Gordes, The village looks fantastic from a distance, but it didn’t seem to have a heart somehow. It was also crowded and the old village part of it was pretty small. So after a coke at a quick food cafe, we zoomed out of town back into the valley.
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1 week ago
Our last climb was back to the hotel in Menerbes. Without bags, it was pretty easy - even with tired legs. But we were ready to be done. As we came up the final road, we realized that we actually pulled our plans off perfectly today despite the threatening weather reports. All in all, a great day on the bike!!
After cleaning up, we shuffled a few meters from the hotel to “Monsieur Tu Menerbes”, where we had a lovely dinner on the terrace overlooking the valley below. Great food and great company - just the two of us! Well fed and tired. We’ll sleep well tonight.
Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 142 km (88 miles)
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1 week ago